Naidu unlikely to prune Cabinet size

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, NOV. 25. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, will undertake a major overhaul of his team in Monday's Cabinet reconstitution.

Result of what Mr. Naidu terms `mid-term assessment' of his Ministry, the reconstitution is expected to see about 10 members dropped and as many inducted keeping the size nearly intact at 36. This is the first time the Chief Minister is going for a major recast after he returned to power in the 1999 Assembly elections. However, Mrs. A. Uma Madhava Reddy, was taken in early last year in the place of her husband killed in a PWG landmine blast.

The swearing-in is scheduled for 12.04 p.m. at the Raj Bhavan.

There was a steady stream of aspirants, MPs and Telugu Desam seniors at the Chief Minister's Jubilee Hills residence on Sunday. About 80 of them met Mr. Naidu. After one-to-one interaction with MLAs until afternoon and feedback from the party, intelligence and other sources, Mr. Naidu got busy with the selection exercise in the evening.

Even while being preoccupied with the reshuffle, Mr. Naidu is stated to be giving a thought to finding the right man for the Deputy Speaker's post, vacant after Mr. K. Chandrasekhar Rao, quit the post and the party to float the Telangana Rashtra Samiti. The name of Mr. E. Dayakar Rao from Warangal is doing the rounds but Mr. Rao is understandably more interested in a Cabinet slot.

Two former Ministers - Mr. B. Gopalakrishna Reddy and Dr. Kodela Sivaprasada Rao - much favoured to return to the Cabinet, had a talk with Mr. Naidu. Relations between Mr. Gopalakrishna Reddy and the Chief Minister had soured a bit when Mr. Reddy was not accommodated in October 1999. They have since `normalised' and Mr. Reddy attended the 4-day training programme for TDP leaders from Chittoor district this week. The two had met twice during the programme and also today.

A few other Ministers, over whose continuance doubts linger, such as Messrs. E. Peddi Reddy, Adala Prabhakar Reddy, K. Pushpaleela, also met Mr. Naidu.

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Section  : Southern States
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